Initial D Third Stage

Takumi Fujiwara is a skilled street racer, but he suffers a crushing loss against the team Emperor's leader Kyoichi Sudou due to his AE86 experiencing an engine failure. Doubting his abilities, the recent high school graduate is then approached by the Akagi RedSuns' team leader Ryousuke Takahashi, who proposes the formation of a professional street racing team. Although it would be the ideal way to improve as a street racer, Takumi remains undecided.

Does the young street racer have what it takes to become a professional? Perhaps Ryousuke and the RedSuns can help him reevaluate his own doubts and misconceptions concerning street racing. However, first and foremost, Takumi decides to settle the score with Kyoichi Sudou...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Episode Videos

Episode 1

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Initial D
Sequel:	Initial D Fourth Stage
Prequel:	Initial D Second Stage
Summary:	Initial D Battle Stage, Initial D: Project D to the Next Stage - Project D e Mukete
Side story:	Initial D Extra Stage

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Fujiwara, Takumi

Main

Miki, Shinichiro
Japanese

Fujiwara, Bunta

Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou
Japanese

Takahashi, Ryousuke

Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito
Japanese

Takahashi, Keisuke

Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu
Japanese

Takeuchi, Itsuki

Supporting

Iwata, Mitsuo
Japanese

Satou, Mako

Supporting

Neya, Michiko
Japanese

Shouji, Shingo

Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji
Japanese

Nakazato, Takeshi

Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki
Japanese

Iketani, Kouichirou

Supporting

Yao, Kazuki
Japanese

Sudou, Kyouichi

Supporting

Tanaka, Masahiko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Mima, Masafumi

Sound Director

Watanabe, Hiroshi

Episode Director

Vale, Eric

Script

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Opening Theme

"Gamble Rumble" by Move

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Ending Theme

"Jirenma" by Every Little Thing

Reviews

Oct 11, 2008

ParaParaJMo

Recommended

The movie has a considerable amount of material to deal with and it does an excellent job of covering it. It transitions smoothly and takes one thing at a time and it’s well paced. Unfortunately, characters such as Itsuki, Iketani, and Keisuke are mostly in the back seat for all the right reasons, but still have presence. You finally get to see Takumi develop as a true well rounded racer and his other qualities also begin to develop in this movie as well. Not much else to say, but I say viewing the first 2 installments are a necessity since the movie is a continuation ... and a progression of the franchise.

Well, the art, resolution, and the cg continue to progress. The art is cleaner and more detailed, and the cg’s rendering also improves. The races as usual are exciting, but have more of a gimmick or twist behind them this time, which makes them fresh and original in addition of allowing the races to take place in a new environment. And you can never get bored of breath taking drifts. However, some problems I have in this movie are that the races this time tends to end more anti-climatically more than usual.

Fortunately for some, the tech speak is virtually non-existent this time so it’ll be easy to follow and just simply enjoy the races. But I say the tech speak in the previous sagas are always a big help in getting a professional understanding of how the cars and techniques work. But that’s just me.

Well, I can’t really add too much about the voice acting since anything I said in the previous reviews can be applied here too. However, the addition of Kai played by Canna Nobutoshi is a great one. He is very intimidating and hot blooded as Kai like other roles he has played such as Guts from Berserk, Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi, and Knuckles from Sonic. The music is still the number one trait has always captivated me to Initial D, and is a great representative of the fast and fun nature of this anime. The opening theme Gamble Rumble by MOVE goes very well to the sequence and is always in tradition that MOVE is part of the soundtrack, and I love the insertion of Crazy for Love as well. The ending theme Jirenma adds a new kind of feel to this series as well that you have to watch to understand what I mean.

Like I said, to get into this movie, and understand and enjoy it, you have to see the first 2 seasons to understand a lot of things such as Takumi’s developing acquainting with Ryosuke, why Takumi is avoiding Natsuki and what ended their relationship, and the score he has to settle with the Emperors. To me, this movie is an extension of season 2 and transitions very well into the 4th stage. This movie does an excellent job of standing on its own by further developing Takumi’s character, and balancing his issues and resolving them.

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Jul 2, 2009

naganje

Recommended

Not as good as the series, but it answers all the question left to be answered, which were carried on from seasons one and two.

The story told is about Takumi's effort to tie all the loose ends from the past two series. So, we've got races, development of his craving for becoming the best driver and an emotional part involving Mogi.

Most of the races are as good as always, but there is one which due to the nature of the rival becomes even more interesting. From this race we will also hear some more of Bunta's story which is a very good thing.

Although Christmas and ...

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Apr 4, 2017

TheIceDragon

Mixed Feelings

IMO This anime had great potential, but imo it needs a graphics / art overhaul. Comparing this anime to some of the old animes like DBZ or Naruto which continued to improve their art overtime, you can see it. Whereas Initial D's art becomes stale as I felt the artist got lazy and decided not to improve on the overall graphic quality of the manga / anime. The original is a good standard to set, but comparing it to today's anime / art, it's just not appealing and won't cut it.

Story Telling: 7/10

The story telling is amazing. The plot pace moves along well when it ... comes the main character and his car racing days. The character develops very quickly when it comes to the art of racing with his innate talent for it. However when it comes to expressing how the the character feels, I feel like he's matured very slowly in learning how to express himself.

One of the biggest issues I have with this manga/anime and multiple mangas/anime are when romance is introduced. The story focuses more heavily on action, but drops the romance in very suddenly and left hanging from time to time. I feel like there is a lack of balance and development in that area. I feel like there are 2 options when it comes to the romance department and that's to either go in-depth and not half-ass it, or to entirely not even put it in there. It's basically like Naruto where Hinata tells Naruto she loves him out of nowhere, and then many chapters or episodes later, not even mention it.

I consider Initial D to have great potential to be a well known classic like Spirited Away, Totoro, or Kotachi no koe with balanced elements of storytelling, soundtracks, and animation.

TLDR: Romance department is seriously lacking, character development on how he expresses himself can immensely improve.

Soundtrack: 10/10

I really can't complain much about the soundtrack. I think it's amazing and fits the theme of the anime well, it compliments the story, but the art doesn't do it as much justice as it could have.

Art: 5/10

My issue is that the art becomes stale. There are no improvements and quality stream hasn't improved much despite being a huge fan of the manga. I feel like a movie or anime is like a puzzle. You need all the right pieces of the puzzle for it to fit together. If the art continued to improve overtime, I'd be very happy for it to do the soundtrack and storytelling justice. I just felt like the artist got lazy and did not bother while being stubborn with its style.

If you're selling this anime to the older generation, it's considered a classic. I understand where they're coming from as I was born in the 90's as well going for game design and CG programming. If I were to advertise this anime to the audiences of newer generations, it won't be as appealing compared to the likes of Sword Art Online (1st Half of Season 1) or Fate Stay: Unlimited Blade Works where the art, music, and storytelling is stunning.

If Initial D is looking to become a known classic, I really feel like a reboot would really do the anime justice if the romance is taken out or rewritten and also better character development. Art is outdated and won't appeal to newer audiences. It's been almost 2 decades. Even Detective Conan, which is a year older, looks a lot better visually.

Enjoyment: Good for a first time watch, but leaves you hanging wanting more because you can see the potential it has and that makes it a little depressing.

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Funimation acquires new 'old' anime.

Funimation announced on the New York Anime Festival that they had acquired the anime series for Initial D. This would include the series Initial D - First stage, Ini...read more

Sep 26, 2009 2:21 AM by Zirgo | Discuss (48 comments)

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Initial D Third Stage

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Fujiwara, Takumi

Fujiwara, Bunta

Takahashi, Ryousuke

Takahashi, Keisuke

Takeuchi, Itsuki

Satou, Mako

Shouji, Shingo

Nakazato, Takeshi

Iketani, Kouichirou

Sudou, Kyouichi

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Initial D Third Stage

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